Rowing In The Right Order

Last weekend, I headed to the lake to discover there was a regatta going on.  For those unfamiliar with the term, it's a series of boat races typically between rowed or sailed water craft.  This particular regatta was a competition where long boats are rowed.

I've seen the races before, but this time, as I watched the precision of the rowers and listened to the shouts of encouragement coming from a passenger in the boat, I grew curious about the details of the sport.  What I learned after some research was just how much a rowing team resembles our Christian walk...or at least how it should look.  For starters, just look at the teamwork required just to get the boat IN the water. The team needs to lift the burden together... just as we should be lifting one another's burdens up in prayer.

Then, once the boat is in the water, each of these team members has a specified position in the boat.

Using an 8 person boat as an example, the one closest to the front of the boat, or the 'stern', is called the 'stroke'.  This is the rower who is the most technically sound member of the team. It is that person's responsibility to establish the rhythm and rate of the boat - or basically, the speed at which they proceed.  In the picture below, you can see a person facing the rowers.  That non-rowing member of the team is the 'coxswain' and his responsibility is to steer the boat by working with the 'stroke', to provide motivation and encouragement to the crew, to let the crew know where they are in relation to other crews and the finish line, and to make any necessary race tactic calls.

Not to over simplify things, but when I think about the positions in the boat equated to our Christian walk, I think of Jesus as the one in the stroke seat with God as the coxswain.  Jesus is in the intercessor postion, establishing the rhythm of our lives when we're in submission to him. God's in the boat with us, directing us, providing encouragement throughout the race and the only one who can actually see the finish line.

The middle rowers are the body of believers.  We are to keep our eyes looking ahead, trusting on God to guide us.  We faithfully serve, pulling together to stay consistent in the race, and working together toward a common goal.

The last 2 rowers in the 8 person boat are called the bow pair.  This pair are more responsible for the stability and the direction of the boat than the other rowers, and are often very technical rowers.  In my little analogy, these would be our leaders, our pastors and the like.

So if the rowers all have a position in the boat that utilizes their strengths, what if one started to complain about their position within the boat?

What if a middle rower decides to switch positions or stop rowing? 

I'm not even sure it's physically possible to stand up in one of those long boats let alone crawl over others to switch seats...but I'll tell you what...aren't we all guilty of having made the attempt at one point or another in our lives? You know what I'm talking about. 

You think you can do something better than the person doing it...or

You think you're doing all the work with none of the credit...or

You don't see why you should have to be the one to volunteer...again...

Worse yet, maybe it's not another member of the body you have issue with...maybe you want to be in charge of the rhythm and rate of the boat. 

What if you try to sit in the stroke seat?

Yes...I'm talking about switching seats with Jesus.  C'mon, you remember...

Those times when things weren't moving along fast enough for you...

Those times when you thought switching lanes would give you an advantage...

Those times when you foolishly thought you could be face to face with God and tell him you could do a better job getting where you wanted to go...

And what happened?  You rocked the boat.  You capsized the boat.  Or maybe you just caused the boat to go around in circles without moving forward so long you got completely disoriented.

It's time for one more comparison today.  You see that big white boat in the picture?  That boat is like the Holy Spirit.  It follows the crews throughout the entire race.  The person in that boat chastises the rowers if they begin to stray from their lane.. he keeps them on the straight and narrow as it were.  If anything happens to a rower, they are there to pluck them up out of the water. 

In our Christian walk, as in rowing, there is a proper order to things.  We need God at the head or we run the risk of being in the race but getting off course because we cannot see the finish line.  We need Jesus in our midst to set the pace.  He intercedes on our behalf with the Father and together they guide us.  

We need to work together as a team, understanding that each person has strengths and weaknesses and God has placed us in the position He wants us in so we are best used to accomplish His purposes.  If we try to switch up that placement we run the risk of bringing harm to the entire group.  Our pastors and teachers are there to give us the stability and guidance we need as we navigate the sometimes rough waters in our lives.  We need to listen to the Holy Spirit to keep from straying from what is right. 

How are you doing today?  Are you fulfilling the mission of your position in the boat? 

Are you rowing in the right order? 

The Purple Sock

It was seeing the purple sock that "put her over the edge"...that caused her to make the call.

She had thought about calling when she didn't see me in church yesterday.  I had gone to service the night before, but she had no way of knowing that.

She had thought about calling me when she hadn't seen me much on Facebook...I guess she missed my post that I'd be off social media for the next month to refocus (with the exception of an occasional blog post).

But when she was in the mall parking lot killing some time waiting on a family member and looked down to see a purple sock on the ground by her car...well, she knew God had been prompting her all along to call me.

What on earth do God and purple socks and phone calls have to do with each other?  For this friend and I, it is a special bond created almost 3 years ago.

In 2010, the head of the women's ministry in our church was looking for a way to keep women connected over what was usually a 'hiatus' period...the 3 months of summer.  She came up with the idea of a book club with a twist.

We were all challenged to read books from the Yada Yada Prayer Group series, about a group of women from very different backgrounds relationally, financially, and culturally.  They meet at a women's conference and while there, one woman experiences a life crisis.  This becomes the impetus for them to stay in contact even after the conference, eventually forming a prayer group and a bond of friendship that lasts a lifetime.

We could read the books at our own pace - it didn't matter if it was just one or the entire series, but at the end of the summer, we were invited to come together for a pot luck to discuss the books, the characters, and how some of what they experienced impacted us in our walk with God.  Although this was a fictional series, there was a lot about the circumstances in the characters' lives that could be applicable to each of us.

August came and the women's ministry leader had a job conflict that kept her from attending the pot luck.  That was unusual because normally, she had the entire month off as vacation - the timing of which was imposed by the very employer who now needed her.  But God is no respecter of routines when it benefits his purposes.  She phoned me a few days before the dinner to ask if I would oversee it.  "Can you just facilitate it?  Ya know, ask a few questions to get and keep discussion flowing?  It's pretty informal."  I hesitantly agreed.  I had just started heading up the CommunityConnections outreach ministry earlier that year and didn't want to take on even a simple "overseeing" of an event...but I acquiesced.

To make things a little festive, I began thinking about how to decorate the room.  Those who know me well, know this is NOT a gift or ability I possess in my natural state, although God is faithful to provide ideas when the need arises, and this was one of those times.

It dawned on me that on the cover of each book, the women in the group wore crazy colored socks.  I went to the dollar store and bought several pair of the craziest I could find, unmatched them and arranged them in the center of the tables.

After we had eaten and the discussion began to wind down, I told the women to each choose one sock.  When they had done so, I told them to find the person who'd chosen the 'mate' to their sock and that was to be their prayer partner.  The women, who wanted to continue meeting just like the characters in the book, loved the idea. 

That was the birth of the monthly women's prayer group I facilitate to this day.

I and my phone-calling friend each chose the purple sock.  We have it as a tangible reminder to pray for each other.  In fact, sometimes, when writing to one another, we address each other as "PSF" - purple sock friend.

The amazing thing is, when this friend made the call to tell me I had been on her mind, something was happening at that very moment.  Something even I was not aware of until several hours later because my phone was turned off. 

That evening, now aware of those circumstances and trying to process what had occurred, I was standing in my kitchen praying when God brought her to mind.  I have many friends and a good number of people to whom I can turn if I need prayer, but I immediately thought of my PSF as the only person I could unburden to in this situation.  As I picked up my cell phone, I saw I had a message. 

Her message. 

The one telling me that God had been prompting her all day to pray for me. 

Later I learned how she had seen the purple sock and how it was then she knew it was a real call to prayer, and I began to cry. 

We had just been studying the first half of Psalm 139 in that prayer group the week before.  We talked about how God knows and sees all - before we speak he knows what we will say...and before things happen, he knows what will occur.  I said my favorite verses were 5 and 6:  "You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;  it is high, I cannot attain it."

He hedged me in through the prayers of a friend.  Through the reminder of a purple sock.  What the prayers were for is not the issue.  What is important to me is that even when I didn't know what was happening, God did.  And even when my friend didn't know what was happening, God tapped her on the shoulder and said..."call".  The situation still happened, but knowing that God saw it and was preparing my friend to offer comfort, gives me tremendous peace and confirms what I already know - that He is in control. 

The next time God prompts you to call someone, do it.  And the next time you lose a sock and have no idea where it's gone, don't get upset...God may have need of it as a divine intervention.